BMW riders secure podium finishes in the Endurance World Championship, the Superstock European Championship and the Malaysia Superbike Championship.

Munich. The FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) was in action at the Slovakiaring (SVK) at the weekend. The race ended with another podium finish for the BMW S 1000RR: the GERT56 by rs speedbikes secured third place in the Superstock class. Imola (ITA) hosted the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) races and the FIM Superstock 1000 European Championship (STK1000). The event saw BMW racer Roberto Tamburini (ITA) continuing his podium streak when he claimed his third second-place in a row in the STK1000 race. Mohd Ramdan Rosli and Nasarudin Mat Yusop (both MAS) claimed podium positions at the Malaysia Superbike Championship 2018 season-opener at Sepang (MAS).

FIM Endurance World Championship at the Slovakiaring, Slovakia.

The third round of the 2017/18 season in the FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) was held at the Slovakiaring near Bratislava (SVK). A total of five BMW teams participated in the eight-hour race. NRT48 – BMW Motorrad (#48) with riders Kenny Foray (FRA), Peter Hickman (GBR) and Stefan Kerschbaumer (AUT) crossed the line in fifth place, immediately followed by the #21 BMW S 1000 RR of Mercury Racing with Karel Hanika, Jakub Smrz and Matej Smrz (all CZE) in sixth position.

In the Superstock class, team GERT56 by rs speedbikes secured third place on the podium with their #56 RR. The squad was forced to change the rider line-up at short notice after Host Saiger (LIE) was injured in a free practice crash. Filip Altendorfer (GER) stood in to join regular riders Julian Puffe and Rico Löwe (both GER). In the overall race classification, GERT56 by rs speedbikes was 13^th. The #93 RR of the Exteria EKO Racing Team with Ladislav Chmelik (CZE), Martin Choy (BUL) and Miroslav Popov (CZE) came home in 20^th overall and seventh in the Superstock class. Team LRP Poland (#90) with riders Jaroslav Cerny (CZE), Arnaud Friedrich and Lucy Glöckner (both GER) suffered bad luck with the squad retiring after accidents.

Kenny Foray: “Overall, it wasn’t an easy race. We did not find the right rhythm to give us hope for a better result. Despite that the team and the riders did a great job and fifth place is encouraging. We will attack another eight-hour race at Oschersleben in four weeks’ time.”

Julian Puffe: “It was my first time riding at the start in an endurance race and it worked out very well. We had to make up a few positions and at the end of my stint I was leading the Superstock class. Unfortunately, Lady Luck left us a bit as the race went on. We suffered a flat tyre and as a result we had to make one more pit stop than planned. In the closing stages we also lost a tyre sticker while riding and got a stop-and-go penalty for that but overall we can be pretty satisfied. I shared duties with Filip Altendorfer over the eight hours of racing and we set really good lap times. We were always the fastest Superstock bike. That enabled us to fight our way towards the front again and in the end we claimed third on the podium despite the problems. Of course we are super happy. We were able to show our BMW S 1000 RR’s and team’s potential, and without the problems, even more would have been possible.”

MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at Imola, Italy.

Imola (ITA) hosted round five of the 2018 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK). Team Gulf Althea BMW’s hope for their home round were not fulfilled. Rider Loris Baz (FRA) missed out on a top-ten position and finished the races in 13^th and 11^th place respectively.

FIM Superstock 1000 European Championship at Imola, Italy.

Alongside the WorldSBK, the FIM Superstock 1000 European Championship (STK1000) held its third race of the season at Imola (ITA). Roberto Tamburini (ITA) continued his streak of podium finishes after a great recovery on his BMW S 1000 RR of the Berclaz Racing Team, finishing second for the third time in a row. In wet qualifying, the Italian was only 13^th. After the opening lap of the race he had already improved to eighth. After that, Tamburini made up place after place to work his way through the field, also setting the fastest race lap. After 12 of 14 laps, he had reached the podium positions, and on the final lap, Tamburini took second place. Championship leader Markus Reiterberger (GER), who had won the first two races of the season on his alpha Racing-Van Zon-BMW RR, had qualified ninth in the rain. He then finished the race in fifth place. Alessandro Delbianco (ITA / Gulf Althea BMW) also claimed a top-ten position, crossing the line in ninth. In the championship standings, Reiterberger still leads ahead of second placed Tamburini.

Markus Reiterberger: “Unfortunately, the Imola race did not go as we had hoped for. My start was really good and I was fourth, closing the gap to the top-three. But then I was struggling and while I was trying to attack the top-three, I went wide over a very high kerb. I nearly crashed and it was very lucky that I was able to save it. I managed to reach the leading group again but had to take wide lines as I was struggling with the front. I rode far beyond my limit as I had set my sights fiercely on the win but that didn’t happen this time. Unfortunately, we had made mistakes with the set-up, so it was only fifth place in the end.“

Malaysia Superbike Championship at Sepang, Malaysia.

The Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSC) kicked off its 2018 season at the Sepang International Circuit (MAS) – with a total of three podium finishes for the BMW S 1000 RR racers. In the Superbike class (MSC SBK), Mohd Ramdan Rosli (MAS / TOC HKMTOYO Racing Team) secured second place in both races. His team-mate Nasarudin Mat Yusop (MAS) was successful in the Superstock class (MSC STK). He rode to third on the rostrum in the second race. Highest placed BMW rider in the first Superstock race was Amirul Hafig Azmi (MAS), who also competes for the TOC HKMTOYO Racing Team.

MFJ Superbike All Japan Road Race Championship at Autopolis, Japan.

The MFJ Superbike All Japan Road Race Championship (MFJ) held its third round of the 2018 season at Autopolis (JPN). Sunday’s race had to be shortened to 15 laps due to rain and difficult conditions. BMW rider Tomoya Hoshino (JPN) from team Tone RT Syncedge 4113, however, seemed to feel very comfortable in the wet and secured a strong fifth place finish on his BMW S 1000 RR.